Emil ritter von skoda



, (No Model.) I

' EMIL BITTER VON SKODA.

' ILLUMINA'I'ED GUN $IGHT.-

' No. 529,424. Patented Nov. 20, 1894.

/fZZrmsses: fize'eizlar: m w m m.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

EMIL BITTER VON SKODA, OF PILSEN, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

ILLUMINATED GUN-SIGHT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,424, dated November20,1 894.

Application filed October 10, 1893. Serial No. 487,787- (No model.)Patentedin England October 4, 1892, No. 17,672; in Germany October 4,1892, N0. 69,368,- in Switzerland October 4, 1892, No. 5,920 g in FranceOctober 4,1892. No. 222,716; in Belgium October 4, 1892,1To. 101,598,and in Italy December 31, 1892, XXVII, 82,844, LXIX, 330.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL BITTER VON SKODA, manufacturer, a subject ofthe Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at Pilsen, in the Province ofBohemia, in the Empire of Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Gun -Sights, (for which patents have beenobtained in Germany, dated October 4, 1892, No. 69,368; in Switzerland,dated October 4, 1892, No. 5,920; in France, dated October 4, 1892, No.222,716; in Belgium, dated October 4, 1892, No. 101,598; in Italy, datedDecember 31, 1892,

'XXVII, 32,844, LXIV, 330, and in England,

dated October 4, 1892, No. 17,672,) and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainstomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention has relation to front sights for ordnance, and moreparticularly to that class of sights adapted to be illuminated for nightservice.

Various constructions have been proposed with a view to render the frontsight visible at night to the gunner, but invisible from the target, asfor instance, by inclosinga suitable illuminating device within thesight and providing the latter with a perforation facing the breech, orby using a light refracting body, as a sighting point, so arranged as tothrow a pencil of light in a horizontal plane toward the breech. Ineither construction, the effect upon the eye of the gunner is a dazzlingand injurious one that interferes materially with accurate sighting. Inorder that a refracting body may be used, it is necessary that it shouldbe rendered invisible from the target side, and to this end a metallicshield has been used, and owing to the fragile nature of these sights itbecame necessary to protect the same by suitable metallic caps, suchbeing also necessary in order to render the sight sufficiently visibleby day and avoid interfering rays or pencils of light, as for instance,pencils or rays of refracted sunlight; but irrespective of thesedisadvantages, and of the comparatively great cost of construction ofthis class of sights, there is another very serious inconvenience,namely, the difference in the level of the day and night sight lines,which unless carefully accounted forwill seriously interfere with goodsighting.

It is the object of this invention to avoid all of the difficulticsabove referred to, by constructing the sight of metal in the generalform of a hollow cone or pyramid, forming an aperture therein, extendingfrom the apex downwardly and facing the breech, and arranging within thesight, below the aperture, a suitable illuminating device, as anincandescent electric lamp. It is obvious that by means of thisconstruction the point or apex which constitutes the sighting point ispre served both for day and night service, that the rays of lightinstead of being refracted horizontally issue from the sight in avertical direction and illuminate onlya small portion of the sightfacing the breech from the sight point downwardly, whereby thedazzlinginterfering pencil oflightabove referred to is avoided, thepointof the sight facing the gunner appearing as if glowing, and inorder that this effect may be increased I employ a glass bulb for theincandescent lamp that is preferably stained red, thus producing areddish glow about the sight point, as if it were heated to a red heat,which is no wise injurious to the eyes.

But that my invention may be fully understood, I will now describe thesainein detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view, and Fig. 2 atop plan view of a front sight for a-gun combined with means forilluminating the same.

Similar letters indicate like parts wherever such may occur in thefigures of drawings just described.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate a front sight S,being visibleat night, .9 indicates a screw plug that is screwed as usual to the gunchase or to the forward end of the gun barrel, that portion of the plugabove the re- 100 taining flange 8 having the form of a truncated coneor pyramid, and is socketed, the upper end of the socket being ofslightly greater diameter to form an annular seat flange for the hollowconical top or sight proper, 3', said enlarged part of the socketbeingscrew-threaded to receive the correspondingly threaded lower end of thesight cones. Across the base of the conical portion of the plug sisformed an opening in which is seated an ivory tube 2 held againstendwise motion by a wire z inserted into a suitable hole and lying in arecess formed in the tube, which latter contains a copper rod .2,terminating in an eye. As shown in Fig. 1, the tube has a central slotor opening for the purpose of exposing the copper rod or wire z.

Within the socket of the conical portion of the plug sis fitted aninsulation block u, preferably constructed in two parts, said blockbearing on the ivory tube and held in place by the sight cone 8. Thesaid insulation block is cored out to receive the neck of anincandescent lamp o, one of the leading-in wires of which is connectedto one end of a spring y, whose other end is connected with a metallicplug y, that is in contact with the exposed portion of the copper wire2. The other leading-in wire of the lamp is connected through themetallic socket win which the neck of the lamp '0 is secured with thebody of the cone plug. Hence with the gun barrel, preferably through themedium of a screw 00 as shown, the metallic socket to being covered withrubber.

The bulb of the lamp I preferably make of red glass, and in order torender the sight luminous I cutaway a portion of the apex of the cone toform an opening 15, the converging walls of which extend through theapex of the sight cone in such manner that said opening will face thebreech of the gun, whereby the apex or top of the sight cone 8' isilluminated or rendered luminous.

By means of the copper wire z and the screw or: or the plug itself thelamp can be readily included in the battery circuit, which is made andinterrupted by a suitable key or switch, as may be readily understood.

When the lamp is brought to incandescence the apex of the front sightwill have the appearance of a metal heated to a dull red glow.Consequently it will be readily visible yet will not be dazzling, and asthe opening 15 faces toward the breech, the luminous or illuminated apexof the gun cannot be seen by looking in the direction of the breech atany distance from the muzzle of the gun.

In View of the arrangement just described of the illuminating device forthe front sight, the operator is enabled to bring the uppermost point ofthe rear sight into coincidence with the clearly visible apex of thefront sight.

I have referred to ivory tubes in respect of the connection for the lamp'0, as an insulating material, but do not wish to confine myselfthereto, as other suitable insulating materials may be used in theconstruction of these tubes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A front sight for guns comprising a hollow body of an opaquematerial, as metal exclusively, and of a substantially conical orpyramidal form provided with an opening facing the breech and extendingfrom the apex or sight point downwardly, and an illuminating devicewithin the sight below the aforesaid opening, whereby the apex of thesight is adapted for use by day and to be illuminated for use by night.

2. A front sight for guns, comprising a hollow body of an opaquematerial, as metal exclusively, and of a substantially conical orpyramidal form provided with an opening facing the breech and extendingfrom the apex or sight point downwardly, and an incandescent electriclamp provided with a stained glass bulb within the sight below theaforesaid opening, for the purpose set forth.

3. A front sight for guns, comprising a hollow body of an opaquematerial, as metal exclusively, and of a substantially conical orpyramidal form, a portion thereof being removed by cutting along theminor to the major axis, and thence through the apex, whereby anopeningtextending from the apexdownwardly is formed, and said apexpreserved for sighting by day, and an illuminating device within thesight below said opening, whereby said apex is adapted to be illuminatedfor sighting by night.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EMIL BITTER VON SKODA.

Witnesses:

ALFRED I-liiFrNnR, ADOLPHE FIscHER.

Ioo

